bead and button show spending

Jan,

If there is a mini-refrigerator in your room, you can stock it with milk, cereal, fruit and yogurt (I'd be happy to take you grocery shopping or there are some mini-marts downtown). There is usually ice water provided in the class room area hallways or you can stock your room with some bottled water, soda or juice.

I found the Hyatt hotel restaurant was a tad pricy for lunch - the other hotel (Hilton I think?) had a reasonably priced lunch buffett and menu. There is also a mall across the street from the convention center with a wide variety of food selections, including healthy ones. Once the selling floor opens, there are also food vendors in the convention center.

You'll also find that you'll meet up with folks at classes and make plans to eat out in the evenings with other out-of-towners. It's quite fun.

I think $40 a day is reasonable, but with some planning, you can probably spend less.

I do recommend that you bring some sort of wheeled bag for packing up class materials and schlepping between classes & hotels.

Barbara

I have booked my classes, paid for my flight and accommodation and now the

I think that sounds reasonable. I agree, if you have a mini fridge you can go to a grocery store and stock up on items like milk for cereal and sandwich fixings.

I'm curious that you don't have tipping in NZ? Really, why not? I usually tip about 15%, but that is, I think, now on the low side. Tax here in my city is 8.65% or so and I usually double the tax. Easy way to calculate it.

Lara

Jan, I was at Bead & Button two years ago, so prices have probably gone up since then, but I thought the Hyatt had fairly reasonable food prices for Breakfast and lunch. They also have a coffee shop, open sort of weird hours. I thought the coffee shop was sort of expensive for cookies or snacks, but the coffee was excellent. There's a mall attached to the Hyatt as well, I think there's a Wendy's in the mall. I never made it to the mall. There's also a bar/restaurant across the street from the Hyatt where they were advertising Fish n Chips on Fridays. If you go out the side door of the Hyatt, across the street there are a number of restaurants which were quite reasonably priced. The Thai restaurant is great, but it take a long time to get served. If I remember correctly, there's also an Italian restaurant which people said had good prices and quick service. There also was a breakfast type place further down that block. The Hyatt bar does take out hamburgers and salads. I did that one night and ate in my room. The bar is small, quite smoky, unless they've changed that. The hamburger was great though. I think it was about $12.00 for the burger, fries and a coke. I don't think my room had a refrigerator, but you can check the ammenities at the hotel's website. I hope to meet you during your time there.We will be there Thursday through Sunday. Standard tipping here on the east coast is 18% of the cost before any taxes are applied. We'll have to exchange info by private emails as it gets closer. Patti

Jan, I forgot to say that 2 years ago I thought the food inside the convention center itself was extremely expensive and not very good. I think drinks were $1.75 for a tiny coke. Patti

Patti,

Last year the food improved somewhat and there were more vendors. However, the food outside the center was much better in the long run. As you mentioned, the mall across the street has an extensive food court, there is the Hyatt and the Hilton as well. The Cafe at the Hilton is quite good - I had lunch there 3 of the days I was at the show. I did one day at the mall (the Greek place is the same owners as when I lived there 20 years ago! and one day ate at the show).

Tipping for meals can range anywhere from 15-20%. Tip on the pre-tax total!

Barbara

Jan,

I think having a much smaller population excludes tipping. There are just not the opportunities to eat out as much. We would have a meal out, maybe once a month for a restaurant and twice a month at family or friends.

Our small town is a country one, with no taxis or public buses. We drive, or those in town walk.

My 20 year old University son earns $13.50 an hour in a part time job, which is a good rate.

If people need help, most people cheerfully give a helping hand. I've worked as a waitress during a UK trip and we had to put all our tips in a jar and they were shared at the end of the night. So the lazy, rude and hard working all got the same!!

I am happy to tip as long as I know what to do. It is one of those wonderful things about travel and leaving your comfort zone.

Thank you to every one for your suggestions.

Cheers, Jan

What you can probably do if you don't have a little fridge, is to pick up some bagels, cream cheese, etc for breakfast. These things don't need to be kept cool overnight, and you can have them with coffee in the morning. I think allhotels keep a coffeemaker in the rooms. CYndi